Resources on regional dialects

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--

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[nq:1]Can anyone recommend any good books or other resources on regional dialects, their usage and evolution? I am particularly interested in the East Midlands/Leicestershire area.[/nq]
Forgive my ignorance, but can anyone name a few English dialects? We always learned (translator school in Flanders) that English had many accents, not dialects, the only dialect we ever heard of being Cockney.

- Herman -

Usenet · Answer

At 19:22:12 on Fri, 4 Mar 2005, HB (Email Removed) wrote in :
[nq:1]Forgive my ignorance, but can anyone name a few English dialects? We always learned (translator school in Flanders) that English had many accents, not dialects, the only dialect we ever heard of being Cockney.[/nq]
Remembering that English is spoken not just in England but throughout the British Isles: there are indeed some very distinct dialects, such as Geordie (Newcastle) and Lallans (Lowland Scots) which are as different from each other as, perhaps, Spanish is from Portuguese, and rather more different than Flemish is from German*. Speakers of two such dialects can just about communicate, but with great difficulty and a lot of repetition.
Geordie is heavily influenced by Danish, from the days of the Viking invasions, and Lallans evolved separately from "English English" many centuries ago, and was for a long time considered the purer version of the language. I seem to remember (it's too late to Google) that Lallans Scots was used in official documents in Scotland for a couple of centuries before England recorded any such documents in a language other than (earlier) French or (later) Latin.
There is a tremendous range of accents throughout Britain. In most areas which have a specific accent, you will also find a fair number of dialect words and phrases in common usage, although not enough to make it too difficult for somebody speaking Standard English** to understand the main thrust of what is being said. Of course, because of the prevalence of radio and TV, dialect speakers have no difficulty whatsoever in understanding Standard English.
As a Received Pronunciation Standard English speaker myself, born and raised in Scotland, (albeit now with extra added free Sussex-sloppiness+), I have in my time found myself literally translating between (1) Sussex English and Southern Irish English and (2) Northern Scots and Standard English.
In addition to accents and dialects, there exists a number of different languages spoken in Britain, including (but not limited to) Gaelic, Welsh and Cornish. The first two are the first language of a considerable number of people, English being their second language. (I am disregarding for the purposes of this post languages spoken as a first language by large numbers of first, second or even third-generation immigrants, such as Chinese, Gujarati etc.) (So, if I'm supposed to be disregarding it, why did I mention it? Because somebody would jump on me if I didn't, that's why.)
* Which gives me the opportunity to show off my only Flemish by knowing how different dank u wel is from vielen Dank.
** "Standard English" is also known as "BBC English" or "The Queen's English". It is considered by those who speak it to be accent-neutral. It is often considered by those who hear it to be posh and poncy. Basically, it seems to have evolved from what was once the very local accent of Middlesex.
++.
+, I'd better explain that "talked proper" is humorously incorrect English for "spoke correctly".
Molly Mockford
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety - Benjamin Franklin (My Reply-To address *is* valid, though may not remain so for ever.)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Remembering that English is spoken not just in England but throughout the British Isles: there are indeed some very distinct ... from German*. Speakers of two such dialects can just about communicate, but with great difficulty and a lot of repetition.[/nq]
There is an "Original English to Geordie translator" at http://www.geordie.org.uk/

Peter Duncanson
UK
(posting from u.c.l.e)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Geordie is heavily influenced by Danish, from the days of the Viking invasions,[/nq]
I think "Standard English" is much more heavily influenced by Danish. Myths about some special Viking origin seem to be common among English dialects - perhaps because it's supposed to add romance.

is interesting.

"North Easterners often claim that their dialect is Viking in origin, even though the historic evidence and political events of the time clearly demonstrate that Bernicia was not a Viking settled area."

Much of the Scandinavian settlement that did take place in northern England was Norwegian, via Ireland, rather than Danish. Hence the differences in Scandinavian influence on different dialects.
Phil C.

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